Jump cancellation and soft trail
DSV combined skiers left behind in “bad conditions”
Norway and Austria share the podium places in the Nordic Combined – also at the end of the Seefeld Triple. The German team cannot move up to the top in adverse conditions after the jumping had to be cancelled.
Vinzenz Geiger stormed through the deep snow, overtaking one competitor after another, but again it wasn't enough to make it onto the podium: The German Nordic combined athletes failed to break the deadlock at the season highlight in Seefeld. While dominator Jarl Magnus Riiber celebrated a start-to-finish victory, the DSV team could only manage sixth place in the triple with Olympic champion Geiger.
The jumping in the early afternoon had to be cancelled due to too much wind. “For us, the safety of the athletes is the number one priority, so we had to decide to cancel,” said the FIS race director for Nordic Combined, Lasse Ottesen. For the cross-country skiing, the provisional competition jump from Thursday was therefore used as the basis. Dominator Riiber won that too with 112.5 metres and was able to confidently maintain his lead to the finish.
“The conditions were really bad, so deep. You have to plan the race well. It's a shame – I'm really fit, but I'm not good enough for jumping,” said Geiger, who started the race from 21st place, on ARD. Head coach Eric Frenzel praised the good running form (“We're still maintaining our great level of running and are doing really well”), but overall he missed “a bit of ease, a bit of self-confidence” in his team.
For Riiber it is the seventh World Cup victory in a row
This is exactly what Norwegian Riiber has in abundance at the moment. The record world champion's third triple triumph was never in danger, his team-mate Jörgen Graabak and the Austrian Stefan Rettenegger finished in second and third place. Rettenegger was in second place for a long time, his team-mate Johannes Lamparter also had a chance of making the podium, but fell in a downhill and came fourth.
Riiber had already won the day on Friday and Saturday, and at the end he recorded the 68th World Cup victory of his career and his seventh in a row. Frenzel remains the record winner of the triple with four titles (2014 to 2017).
Once again, Frenzel's team was not able to make it to the top: Manuel Faißt, who started the race in sixth place, finished tenth, while veteran Johannes Rydzek finished in 13th place. Julian Schmid (14th), Wendelin Thannheimer (20th), David Mach (25th) and Terence Weber (27th) were more than two minutes behind winner Riiber at the finish. Of the 42 podium places this winter, only two have gone to the former dominant nation – both by Faißt. The remaining places on the podium have so far been shared between Norway (26) and Austria (14).
